Ceramic foam materials are known in the art. Ceramic foams may be formed of a variety compositional materials and include, but are not limited to, silicon carbide (SiC), boron carbide (B.sub.4 C), hafnium carbide (HfC), tantalum carbide (TaC), zirconia (ZrO.sub.2), alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3), hafnium dioxide (HfO.sub.2), magnesium oxide (MgO), silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2), yttria (Y.sub.2 O.sub.3), silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4), aluminum nitride (AlN), boron nitride (BN), hafnium nitride (HfN), titanium boride (TiB.sub.2), cordierite (MgO--Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --SiO.sub.2), and mullite (3Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --2SiO.sub.2). An example of a particular application of a ceramic foam is chemically vapor deposited silicon carbide (CVD-SiC) foam which is used as bulk structural material. Particularly in the aerospace industry, such foam has applications for internal reinforcement of high temperature structures, such as ceramic composite trailing edges of aerodynamic surfaces. Other applications of ceramic foams include heat exchangers, engine components, aerospace structures, baffles, diesel exhaust filters, particulate filters, catalyst supports, radomes, re-entry shields, heating elements, noise suppressors, bearings, solar collectors, thermal regenerators, mirror supports, brake pads, and kiln furniture.
In order to facilitate practical application of such ceramic foams, however, there is a need in the art for methods of adhering and repairing such foams. In particular, it is desirable to adhere similar ceramic foam to each other such as in the case where a portion of ceramic foam is damaged. In this respect, a repair plug formed of the same type of material (and therefore having the same mechanical and chemical attributes) is often desirable to be used.
It is therefore evident that there exists a need in the art for a method of adhering ceramic foams which is relatively simple yet effective.